Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community
So there was a formal debate at Oxford yesterday around the question, "This house believes that the e-learning of today is essential for the important skills of tomorrow." I used to enjoy formal debates but more and more I have coming to believe (as Jon Stewart famously argued about Crossfire) they hurt more than they help. But that's just me. Looking at these summaries, I think they could have found speakers in favour who actually support e-learning, and have a wider view of it, not narrowly focused speakers who allowed the opposition to characterize e-learning as "doing compliance training, product knowledge and induction programmes." Of course, I would never have tolerated such a narrow question for debate, either - which is why I see these debates as more harmful than helpful (though I'm sure much fun was had by all).

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
stephen@downes.ca

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Last Updated: Mar 28, 2024 6:27 p.m.

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